Overview

• France operates more than 2,300 business aid schemes that experts describe as fragmented and highly complex.
• INSEE estimates about 65,000 apprentice positions will vanish by year-end after the hiring subsidy was reduced to €5,000 for SMEs and €2,000 for large firms from €6,000 previously.
• The overall cost is disputed, with the Senate citing €211 billion for 2023 while another estimate reported by TF1 Info is about €112 billion.
• Major spending lines include the research tax credit at over €7 billion a year, a shipowners’ fiscal niche at €5.6 billion, and apprenticeship support around €3.5 billion annually.
• Analysts question whether flagship programs such as the research tax credit achieve their goals, even as companies paid more than €400 billion in taxes and contributions in 2022 and rank among the EU’s most taxed per Eurostat.